


i would have missed you

by restless5oul



Category: Derry Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluffy and sweet, Is this a crackship? I dunno, Other characters only appear briefly, crackship, it's cute though, post-season 2 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-23 00:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/restless5oul/pseuds/restless5oul
Summary: james already has a thousand reasons for wanting to stay in derry. but he thinks he's found one more.





	i would have missed you

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i binged all of derry girls in 24 hours and i'm officially obsessed, seriously i've starting thinking in a derry accent.
> 
> so i'm new to this fandom so i'm definitely still finding my way around the characterisation and stuff. i'm not from northern ireland so i've probably totally bastardised the accent and slang (do you say 'offie' in NI?) so apologies.
> 
> anyway, this was just written for fun. i think this ship has cute potential, and no one else had written it before so i thought why not? i am planning a much longer orla-centric fic (honestly she is my favourite character and she does not get enough love) but i wrote this in the mean time. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy! xoxo

“I would have been really sad if you’d have left James.”

James looked up to find a wide pair of eyes staring at him from across the other side of the couch. Erin, Michelle and Clare had gone out to see if they could find anywhere that would sell them some alcohol – Michelle had insisted that the momentous occasion of James’ decision to leave deserved a true celebration – leaving him and Orla alone in the Quinn house. What with everyone else still down at the Guildhall seeing the President. Her voice sounded louder than usual in the empty room.

“Yeah? You would have?”

She nodded, drawing her knees in closer to her chest. And she wouldn’t stop looking at James with those big eyes.

“I would have missed you,” she mumbled, sipping her tea. And James felt his heart flutter a little at her words.

Orla never really said an awful lot, but when she did, she tended to make her words count, she didn’t mince them, she didn’t censor herself. James liked that about her. Sure, some of the things she said could be a little disconcerting, sometimes borderline disturbing, but at least he always knew exactly what she thought of him. He’d thought that had been true about the other girls, but he was beginning to think they liked him more than they let on.

“I would have missed you too,” he said. It felt like the right thing to say, but he was surprised by how much he meant it.

Besides her honesty, he liked the way Orla saw the world, she was far less fearful than him, and possibly the least prejudiced person he’d ever met. She could be a little unpredictable, but that’s only because she was never anything but herself. He liked when she would ask questions he didn’t know how to answer, and when she would sidle up beside him and squeeze his hand just because she could.

“Even if you do have a funny accent, you’re not too bad. In fact, I think you’re class, James.”

James smiled, and watched as Orla put her mug down on the floor and scooted closer, resting her chin on top of her knees. She bit down on her bottom lip and for the first time James thought she looked like she was holding back and not saying exactly what was on her mind.

“What’re you thinking about Orla?” he asked quietly.

She paused for a few seconds, before she decided on saying:

“Your hair looks nicer like this.”

It hadn’t exactly been what he’d been expecting, though he had long learnt to throw expectations out the window when it came to Orla. He laughed, but it died a little in his throat when Orla reached out to touch the curls on top of his head. She had an intense look on her face, burning in a way he hadn’t seen it before.

“Um thanks,” James was very much aware that he was blushing. He was used to Orla sitting too close to him, hugging him, touching him, but this felt different.

“Aye, I like it a lot. I like you too James,” now he really wasn’t sure where this was going,

Surely she couldn’t mean what he thought. Now she was closer James found himself thinking that she actually was kind of pretty, in a very Orla sort of way, her hair was a bit wild, and maybe she wasn’t the kind of girl everyone would agree was beautiful, there was something about her that made James want to look.

“I like you too,” he found himself saying, and he knew he meant it.

“Good,” she smiled, like that settled some argument she’d been having in her head.

James never got to ask her what that argument might be because the next thing he knew her other hand is on the side of his face and her lips are on his. They’re softer than he ever expected a girl’s to be, and they taste faintly of sherbet. He stiffens in shock for half a second, before he remembers that it’s only Orla, and then he lets himself relax and let himself enjoy it. And he likes it, he _really_ likes it. He never really thought about kissing Orla before, but he knows he’s not going to be able to stop thinking about this.

She pulls back and there’s a dreamy smile on her face. Without even really thinking about it, James moves forward as she moves away and he would have kissed her again if he hadn’t been interrupted by the sound of the door opening and his cousin’s loud voice floating down the hallway.

“Prick at the offie wouldn’t give us any alcohol, even when I said I’d show him my tits. So I swiped this from me mam’s booze cupboard instead. If she asks me where it’s gone it’s your fault dickweed.”

Michelle barged into the living room, pointing one finger at James and holding a bottle of Pinot Grigio in her other hand.

James looked to his left but Orla wasn’t sat there anymore, instead Erin took her place, the same grin still on her face from when she’d realised James wasn’t leaving after all. He felt someone budge his right arm and saw Orla was perched on the arm of the chair, a bright pink lollipop in her mouth.

She grinned at James and then winked.

He thought to himself, _yeah, I’ve got a lot of good things to stick around for_.


End file.
